English people
The '''British people '''are a West Germanic ethnic group native to Britain in the United Kingdom. A lot of times, British people are referred to a "Brits" or "Britons" or also "Englishmen". Since there are many ethnic groups in Britain, there British people can also refer to people born in Britain regardless of their ancestry or ethnic origin. According to the seafaring skills, the British were able to conquer one of the biggest empires in history, colonizing territories in all seven continents. History, Origin and Etymology Like many countries in western Europe, the island known as Great Britain had been part of the Roman Empire. The island was known as ''Britannia ''analogous to the names of other Roman territories. Such as ''Hispania ''which refers to the ancient Roman territory in the Iberian Peninsula consisting of both Spain and Portugal. British people descended from three groups of people, the Angles, Saxons and the Celts. These were all Germanic tribes, Vikings had also existed in the area. The Angles and Saxons drove the Celts back to the northern part of what is now the United Kingdom. The Anglo-Saxon language, would eventually develop into the language we come to know today as English. During the Medieval Ages, Great Britain would develop into several Germanic and Celtic empires. King Arthur is a popular character in British legend. According to Britsh legend, King Arthur defended the empire from the Saxons. In the 1500s, the British would begin to expand its territories throughout the entire world. Due to seafaring skills, the British would conquer one of the largest empires ever. The British Empire surpassed the Spanish Empire, another very large overseas empire. In 1776, what is now the United States declared their independance from the British Empire. The British people would find themselves fighting in World War I and World War II. In World War II, the British fought the Nazi Germans as they swept through Europe. The British troops played an important role in contributing to the D-Day Invasion of Normandy.The British people still hold to their royal heritage. Kings and queens are involed in British parliment. But they only play a historical role and they make no decisions in which laws are passed in British government. Due to the immigrations to the United Kingdom, British people also have a lot of Arab and African origin. By Country British people make up the majority population of England. There are 62,436,000 British people living in England. In Hong Kong, there are 3,000,000 ethnic British living in the region. In the United States, Canada and Australia British people make up the largest ancestries. In Canada, there are 603,000 ethnic British living in the country and 12,134,745 Canadians of British ancestry. In the United States, almost all Americans have some kind of traces to England. There are 678,000 ethnic British people living in the United States and 40,234,652 Americans of British ancestry. Also note that many of the British Muslims are of Arab origins from Iraq. There are also African British people. Language British people speak the English language. The English language itself is a descandant of the Anglo-Saxon language, the language that the peoples in what is now the United Kingdom were speaking. The English language is part of the western Germanic languages. English is spoken just about everywhere, and has been declared the worldwide lingua franca of inter-ethnic communication. English is the de facto language in the United States, although the government has no recorded official federal language. English is an official language in Canada, Singapore, Australia, Philippines, Pakistan and India. But much more other countries use English as an international lingua franca. The countries listed simply record English as an official language. Like every language, the English language was differences in every region and country. The English spoken in the United States contains innumerable amounts of Italic-Romanic influence to the extent that American English is classified under the Italic-Romance language. The English spoken in England and its former territories that isn't America is much more identical to German and some of the other Germanic languages. The English spoken in Australia contains a lot of slang, to the extent where it sounds like another language. The English spoken in India and Pakistan is British English, while the English spoken in the Philippines and Singapore is American English. In fact, the English in Pakistan is officially called Pakistani English, which is Pakistan's national register of the English language and the English in India is Indian English. Pakistani and Indian English are based off of British English. Religion and Architecture Most British people are followers of the Protestant section of Christianity. But there are also a significant amount of British Muslims making Islam and Christianity the predominant religions practiced by British people. But the British people who profess the Islamic faith aren't of Anglo-Saxon or any type of Germanic or Celtic origin. Most of the British Muslims are ethnic Arabs and descendants of Arab immigrants. Historically, British people had been Pagans and Roman Catholics. Due to wars and conflicts, the Roman Catholic Church was expelled from the United Kingdom. British architecture mostly comprises of Gothic architecture. For this is what dominates and influences the British religions. Churches and cathdrals in England are built Gothic style. The Big Ben is located in London, the capital city of England. The Big Ben was built for the Palace of Westminster. This is one of the world's largest clock towers and is a world UNESCO site.